I’m watching season two of True Blood right now, and I have to ask, is Alan Ball channeling Euripides?

It seems that indeed someone was – although not Ball, but Charlaine Harris, the writer of the SookieStackhouse novels, which the series is based on.

I’ve found the entire season so far (I’m up to episode four) to be reminiscent of Bakkhai, especially with the introduction of Maryann to be the Dionysos character. So interesting, I think, and at least all of the gratuitous sex has a little more of a purpose (maybe?). Anyway, I googled “True Blood Bakkhai” and, sure enough, a shout-out to Wikipedia for the wiki from the Maenad entry:

So, my suspicions were confirmed, although not exactly… I was seeing Maryann as Dionysos himself and not as a maenad. I’m interested to see if any more myth is added, especially in terms of the eating of flesh in a series based on vampires… I think Sam’s character as a shape-shifter (who regularly turns into a dog) will make this fascinating to continue watching, and I’ll be interested to see if the maenads, aka residents of Bon Temps, Louisiana, do rip Sam apart.

So it begins. This week I pitched both of my ideas to the faculty and to my classmates for my thesis film. The faculty didn’t indicate which idea they liked better but they talked more about my war film idea. And my classmates really seemed interested in it as well. This doesn’t mean that I’m giving up on my drama idea, but it does mean that I’m leaning heavily on this idea.

Also, today I got attached to a person who is specializing in Cinematography, which is great. This means part of her money will be used towards this budget, as well as more dedicated time working on my film. I’m super excited to get to work and to toy around with the idea of possibly shooting on 35mm B&W if we have the funding. Shooting this film in B&W is definitely something I would want in a heartbeat. It will be reminiscent of classic WWII films made in the 40s, 50s, and 60s.

I’m also working with one of the writers to develop this script more into a movie, rather than a play. He’s fantastic with dialogue and I think this story can only get better from here on out.

All of my classmates had really interesting ideas and I can’t wait to start working on each other’s films.